DeMint: Takeover of Health Care Can’t Be Fixed, Must Be ScrappedWASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, made the following statement after President Obama announced his plans to push through a government takeover of health care.

“The President is planning a legislative sleight of hand, with a ‘takeover now, fix it later’ approach,” said Senator DeMint. “He’ll ask House Democrats to vote for the discredited Senate health care takeover bill and promise to change it later through a budget maneuver called reconciliation. He wants politicians to vote for a bill that reduces freedom, funds abortion, raises taxes, and hikes health care premiums. Let me be clear to my House colleagues: You will be stuck with this vote because Republicans will fight for the American people and stop any attempt to ram through reconciliation in the Senate.

“Americans have made it clear that this massive takeover of health care can’t be fixed — it must be scrapped. The President’s modest changes to his takeover bill are like pouring a glass of fresh water into a polluted lake, but Americans aren’t fooled. Democrats are trying to ram through a takeover of one-sixth of our economy and give Washington bureaucrats control of Americans’ health care. Voters rejected this big government agenda in poll after poll and at the ballot box in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia. Instead of resorting to these heavy-handed tactics, Democrats should listen to the American people, stop the takeover, and start supporting commonsense solutions. We can lower costs and increase choices by passing simple steps like buying health insurance across state lines, tort reform, and tax equity.”